Phys.org: Phys.org news tagged with: lightninghttp://phys.org/
en-usPhys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine.When dinosaurs roamed a fiery landscapeThe dinosaurs of the Cretaceous may have faced an unexpected hazard: fire! In a paper published online today, researchers from Royal Holloway University of London and The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago have shown that during the Cretaceous (145-65 million years ago) fire was much more widespread than previously thought.http://phys.org/news252246605.html
Other SciencesThu, 29 Mar 2012 13:30:51 EDTnews252246605Laser lightning rod: Guiding bursts of electricity with a flash of lightLightning is a fascinating but dangerous atmospheric phenomenon. New research reveals that brief bursts of intense laser light can redirect these high-power electrical discharges.http://phys.org/news250850269.html
PhysicsTue, 13 Mar 2012 09:38:09 EDTnews250850269A possible aid for navigators: Research says microorganisms may create Pacific's 'underwater lightning'Star charts, compasses, sextants, even dead reckoning. For centuries, sailors have used one or all of those to determine their position on the globe and to help them navigate from one place to another.http://phys.org/news243759386.html
EarthThu, 22 Dec 2011 06:56:53 EDTnews243759386Lightning-made waves in Earth's atmosphere leak into spaceAt any given moment about 2,000 thunderstorms roll over Earth, producing some 50 flashes of lightning every second. Each lightning burst creates electromagnetic waves that begin to circle around Earth captured between Earth's surface and a boundary about 60 miles up. Some of the waves &#150; if they have just the right wavelength &#150; combine, increasing in strength, to create a repeating atmospheric heartbeat known as Schumann resonance. This resonance provides a useful tool to analyze Earth's weather, its electric environment, and to even help determine what types of atoms and molecules exist in Earth's atmosphere, but until now they have only ever been observed from below.http://phys.org/news241773967.html
Astronomy & SpaceTue, 29 Nov 2011 07:26:49 EDTnews241773967Lightning sprites are out-of-this-worldOnly a few decades ago, scientists discovered the existence of "sprites" 30 to 55 miles above the surface of the Earth. They're offshoots of electric discharges caused by lightning storms, and a valuable window into the composition of our atmosphere. Now researchers at Tel Aviv University say that sprites are not a phenomenon specific to our planet.http://phys.org/news241098252.html
Astronomy & SpaceMon, 21 Nov 2011 11:44:52 EDTnews241098252Study: Ozone from rock fracture could serve as earthquake early warningResearchers the world over are seeking reliable ways to predict earthquakes, focusing on identifying seismic precursors that, if detected early enough, could serve as early warnings.http://phys.org/news240766148.html
PhysicsThu, 17 Nov 2011 16:00:01 EDTnews240766148High-voltage engineers create nearly 200-foot-long electrical arcs using less energy than before (Update)Photos taken by the researchers show plasma arcs up to 60 meters long casting an eerie blue glow over buildings and trees at the High Voltage Laboratory at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.http://phys.org/news239997287.html
PhysicsTue, 08 Nov 2011 17:55:14 EDTnews239997287Firestation in space to open firehose of lightning data(PhysOrg.com) -- When opportunity knocked, NASA heliophysicist Doug Rowland answered. He and his team recently secured another flight opportunity for a pint-sized instrument studying lightning in Earth's upper atmosphere and now are bracing for a veritable "fire hose" of data about a little-understood phenomenon first discovered by scientists nearly two decades ago.http://phys.org/news238235392.html
Astronomy & SpaceWed, 19 Oct 2011 09:29:59 EDTnews238235392Armstrong relives historic Moon landingIt's more than 40 years since Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Moon, but his memories of the historic flight remain as undimmed as his passion for further exploration of space.http://phys.org/news233807632.html
Astronomy & SpaceMon, 29 Aug 2011 03:34:04 EDTnews233807632Fastest electric motorcycle tops 200 mph for world record(PhysOrg.com) -- The Lightning Motorcycles SuperBike recently set a speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats as the world&#146;s fastest electric bike, vrooming in at over 200 mph. Lightning Motorcycles set its newest speed coups at a record-breaking 215.960 mph with a best speed of 218.637 mph. Until this month's triumph, no electric motorcycle had ever topped a speed of 200 mph.http://phys.org/news233727239.html
TechnologySun, 28 Aug 2011 05:14:40 EDTnews233727239Mauna Kea telescope back up after lightning strike(AP) -- A Mauna Kea telescope that was knocked out by lightning more than two months ago is fully operational again after undergoing repairs, the telescope's director said Friday.http://phys.org/news233033660.html
Astronomy & SpaceSat, 20 Aug 2011 04:34:38 EDTnews233033660Are humans to blame for shark attacks?An apparent increase in shark attacks may well have a human cause, with low-cost air travel but also over-fishing and possibly global warming among the hidden suspects, say experts.http://phys.org/news232876597.html
BiologyThu, 18 Aug 2011 08:56:48 EDTnews232876597Smoke from Va.'s Lateral West FireToday, the GOES-13 satellite captured a visible image of the thick brown smoke streaming from the Lateral West Fire burning in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge (GDSBWR) in southeastern Virginia.http://phys.org/news232282051.html
EarthThu, 11 Aug 2011 11:47:44 EDTnews232282051Lightning is less frequent in winter, but is much more noticeable than in summer"Study of lightning rays in the Basque Country, and their relation to precipitation" is the title of the PhD thesis that physicist Joseba Areitio presented at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). In fact, since systems for the detection of these rays of lightning were developed in the 80s, the possibility of estimating the precipitation produced in a storm as a function of the rays generated therein has been an object of research. http://phys.org/news232105032.html
EarthTue, 09 Aug 2011 10:38:05 EDTnews232105032NASA checks for damage after possible lightningThunderstorms threatened to delay NASA's last space shuttle launch set for Friday with lightning striking near the pad as astronauts descended on Cape Canaveral by the dozens on the eve of the historic flight.http://phys.org/news229267974.html
Astronomy & SpaceThu, 07 Jul 2011 14:33:04 EDTnews229267974Moving beyond embryonic stem cells: Encouragement on the horizonFor nearly two decades, the medical world and the American public have grappled with the lightning-rod topic of stem cells, in particular the controversy surrounding cells from human embryos. But when researchers four years ago successfully "reprogrammed" adult body cells to become stem cells, some thought the ethical debate was nearly over. Those redirected cells, known as induced pluripotent cells, or iPS cells, show potential as therapy.http://phys.org/news229098525.html
BiologyTue, 05 Jul 2011 15:29:01 EDTnews229098525Lightning strikes far more men than women, statistics showWhen it comes to lightning, females are cautious and males are reckless.http://phys.org/news228666066.html
Other SciencesThu, 30 Jun 2011 16:00:01 EDTnews228666066British electricity pylons to get a makeoverElectricity pylons across the British countryside may soon cease to be eyesores thanks to a government backed competition for a new design.http://phys.org/news225363594.html
TechnologyMon, 23 May 2011 10:00:20 EDTnews225363594Image: Lightning over BrazilThe European Space Agency's Paolo Nespoli took this image of lightning over Brazil as seen from the International Space Station in January 2011.http://phys.org/news224749973.html
Astronomy & SpaceMon, 16 May 2011 07:33:18 EDTnews224749973Lightning rod for head and neck cancerThey say lightning never strikes the same place twice&#151;unless, of course, that place is a lightning rod. An enzyme called UROD acts like a lightning rod for cancer cells, drawing radiation and chemotherapy toward specific spots in diseased tissue, a new study in mice and humans reports in Science.http://phys.org/news215690468.html
Medicine & HealthMon, 31 Jan 2011 10:01:17 EDTnews215690468Studying more than rockets in the 'deep south'A city that rarely sees snowfall, Huntsville, Ala., was blanketed the evening of Jan. 9 under several inches of snow following a winter storm that also produced a rare "thundersnow" or lightning flashes. This unique weather event allowed scientists at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and the University of Alabama in Huntsville the opportunity to assemble one of the most detailed snowfall datasets on record for the deep southern tier of the continental United States. http://phys.org/news215261321.html
EarthWed, 26 Jan 2011 10:49:58 EDTnews215261321Researchers use lightning detection for early warning of volcanic ash(PhysOrg.com) -- New Zealand scientists are playing a key role in developing a new system to give early warning of aviation-endangering volcanic eruptions by detecting the lightning their ash clouds trigger.http://phys.org/news211715727.html
EarthThu, 16 Dec 2010 09:55:41 EDTnews211715727Satellites give an eagle eye on thunderstorms(PhysOrg.com) -- It's one of the more frustrating parts of summer. You check the weather forecast, see nothing dramatic, and go hiking or biking. Then, four hours later, a thunderstorm appears out of nowhere and ruins your afternoon.http://phys.org/news211651891.html
EarthWed, 15 Dec 2010 16:11:55 EDTnews211651891X-rays from lightning photographedUsing a custom-built camera the size of a refrigerator, Florida researchers have made the world's first crude pictures of X-rays streaming from a stroke of lightning.http://phys.org/news211561407.html
PhysicsTue, 14 Dec 2010 15:03:54 EDTnews211561407New way found of monitoring volcanic ash cloudThe eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallaj&#246;kull in April this year resulted in a giant ash cloud, which &#150; at one point covering most of Europe &#150; brought international aviation to a temporary standstill, resulting in travel chaos for tens of thousands.http://phys.org/news211175936.html
EarthFri, 10 Dec 2010 03:59:17 EDTnews211175936Some UFOs may be explained as ball lighting(PhysOrg.com) -- An Australian scientist studying photographs of fireballs, UFO sightings and a report of a strange green light in the sky suggests some UFOs may be ball lightning caused by fireball meteors.http://phys.org/news210489052.html
PhysicsThu, 02 Dec 2010 07:40:04 EDTnews210489052Plastics and nanoparticles are the perfect combinationThese days, plastic components are vital to many fields of industry - lightweight construction, automobile manufacturing and electrical engineering, to name but a few. Now researchers have found ingenious ways to combine plastics with nanoparticles and endow them with new properties. Thanks to these innovative materials, aircraft could in future be better protected against lightning strikes.http://phys.org/news205143540.html
NanotechnologyFri, 01 Oct 2010 09:22:49 EDTnews205143540Earth, Venus lightnings produced by similar mechanismsDespite the great differences between the atmospheres of Venus and Earth, scientists have discovered that very similar mechanisms produce lightning on the two planets. The rates of discharge, the intensity and the spatial distribution of lightning are comparable, thus scientists hope to be able to better understand the chemistry, dynamics and evolution of the atmospheres of the two planets. These results were presented by Dr. Christopher Russell at the European Planetary Science Congress, on Thursday 23d September.http://phys.org/news204832802.html
Astronomy & SpaceMon, 27 Sep 2010 19:01:34 EDTnews204832802Image: Twitchell canyon fireThe Expedition 24 crew aboard the International Space Station photographed the Twitchell Canyon Fire in central Utah on Sept. 20.http://phys.org/news204391550.html
Astronomy & SpaceWed, 22 Sep 2010 17:00:02 EDTnews204391550Firefly Satellite to study lightningSatellites are big. They cost a lot of money. At least that's the impression a couple of University of Maryland-College Park students had when they applied for an internship to help construct a satellite instrument with scientists at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. As the pair quickly discovered, nothing could have been farther from the truth.http://phys.org/news204220951.html
Astronomy & SpaceMon, 20 Sep 2010 18:40:01 EDTnews204220951